What's your internet connection speed?
First off it's worth noting that both have great libraries of content spanning film genres, tv genres and documentaries and both can be cancelled at short notice. Also both, in my experience are very reliable and stable platforms and with a good internet connection buffering is a thing of the past. I've had both with a bad internet connection (less than 5MBPS) and it's not great for either but no better nor worse than watching YouTube or BBC I Player on the same connection. Netflix states that 3.0 MBPS is required to watch SD quality content but for HD 5.0 is required and for Ultra HD 25 MBPS. Amazon states that 0.9 MBPS is required for SD content and 3.5 MBPS for HD content, for content in UHD and HDR 25 MBPS. There are a number of ways to test internet speed and a number of sites that have a tool that works it all out, I tend to use http://www.speedtest.net/. But if you are thinking of getting a streaming package with Netflix or Amazon or anyone else it is well worth checking what your internet download speed is before purchasing. Although the most basic of Broadband packages in the UK will offer more than the 5 MBPS required for both, it's essential to know what the actual speed through a device will be. The same goes for UHD and HDR content, if that's something you want and who wouldn't? if you have a device capable of 4K resolutions of course, UHD will cost more (see below) and won't work properly at lower speeds and will revert to HD.
Can you get an app for your device, does it support HD and UHD?
One of the essential things to check before signing up for either is to check that your device has an app. Further it is essential to check what kind of resolution that app supports. For example if you are watching Netflix through console and you have a PS4 or an Xbox One there is an app but it only supports 1080p rather than UHD, whereas if you have an Xbox One S or Xbox One X or a PS4 Pro then 4K is available. Whereas for Amazon the next gen Xbox consoles support 4K but the PS4 and PS3 ones do not and the PS4 Pro is not mentioned. Quizzically Amazon Video through a PC or MAC doesn't seem to support UHD content. You would've thought in this day and age any UHD compatible device would be capable of UHD streaming but not so, for a list of Amazon Video's supported devices see here and for Netflix supported devices see here.
Amazon and Netflix plans:
In terms of payment packages, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are very competitively priced and both offer free month long trials (which is a great way of seeing if your internet connection is up to it). They also offer a variety of packages to suit different budgets, however the full Amazon Prime package offers a great deal more than on demand viewing.
Netflix Basic Plan Amazon Prime Video
Basic Package: £5.99 per month £5.99 per month
(includes SD and ability (includes HD and UHD,
to watch on 1 screen and screen to 3 devices)
download to 1 device)
Mid tier package: Netflix Standard Plan Amazon Prime
£7.99 per month £79.00 per year
(includes HD and ability to (includes same benefits
screen and download to 2 devices.) as Video alone but also includes unlimited next day shipping from Amazon, Amazon Music, free Kindle books and unlimited photo storage.)
Top tier package: Netflix Premium
£9.99 per month
(includes HD and UHD and
ability to stream and download
to 4 devices.)
It's clear that if you do lots of shopping with Amazon, or you own a Kindle or want access to their Music service any of these things and want Amazon Prime Video then there is no choice, it is Amazon. However choices for streaming provider can be more complicated than that, if it's the actual content that will sway you and that contents war movies you've come to the right place.
I've compiled a list of 5 must see war movies on each of the platforms, not that much in terms of reviews or a great amount of details or giving away the whole plot. I've tried to find movies from a range of different historical eras and conflicts and a variety of older and newer films.
Netflix 5 great war films:
Das Boot
A classic war movie and quite a rare one as it's German, released in 1981 the film showcases the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat warfare of World War Two, it's a thriller of a war movie.
Full Metal Jacket
One of the best war movies ever made (in my opinion anyway). Directed by Stanley Kubrick the film is in two parts, the first the swearing and abuse filled hell of US Marine Corp training, the second part follows the recruits deployment to Vietnam at the time of the Tet Offensive.
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Undoubtedly the quirkest of films on this list, featuring the same Director as Full Metal Jacket; Stanley Kubrick. It is a dark satirical comedy set during the Cold War, a rogue US officer orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union and everyone else battles to stop the inevitable armageddon.
Hacksaw Ridge
Critically acclaimed and a return for Hollywood to WW2. The story centers around a young soldier, a committed pacifist, yet a war hero of the highest order. Working tirelessly as a medic helping his falling comrades during the fierce battle for Okinawa against the forces of Japan.
Zero Dark Thirty
The hunt for Bin Laden, the films follows the story of the intelligence operation to track down the leader of Al Qaeda and the military operation that ended his life.
Amazon 5 great war films:
Schindler's List
Set during the holocaust of WW2, a German industrialist saves Jews from the concentration camps
employing them in factories instead.
Hurt Locker
Set during the second US Iraq war and focusing on a US Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.
Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola's excellent interpretation of the novella The Heart of Darkness set in Indochina during the US war in Vietnam. A rogue special forces officer has gone native and completely insane. A small force is sent deep into the jungle to track down and kill the madman.
71
Probably not the most well known of movies. Set in the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, the main character is deployed to Belfast as a young soldier. After a RUC raid in a Catholic neighbourhood, rioting ensues and 1 soldier is split up from his comrades and needs to survive the night in Belfast.
The Deer Hunter
Classic Vietnam war movie, a group of soldiers from the same town who serve together in Vietnam. During the conflict they are captured and forced to play Russian Roulette. They return to their small town troubled by the conflict and their experiences.
There are loads of great films and tv shows to watch on both Amazon Prime Video and Netflix in the UK. Check more of the content available on this blog, I even have a full list of war films on Netflix, to see what other war films are available to stream. Again as a reminder both platforms offer free month long trials, so well worth a try if you haven't already. Check out your internet speed and check if your device or smart tv has an app and what resolution it offers. Personally I don't prefer one platform over the other and the choice in films is varied. Both offer top class war movies and fresh content is uploaded regularly on both. Which platform do you prefer?
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